Photo of Military Dad Coming Home at 2 A.M. to Hug Scared Daughter Will Melt Your Heart

Everybody needs a good hug now and then.

Recently, Karisa Smith’s 3-year-old daughter was having a tough night missing her military father, who had been gone for two weeks. Smith revealed that she and her now-husband first met when her daughter was nine months old. Since that first meeting, the daughter’s become quite the “ultimate daddy’s girl” and is currently in the process of being adopted. But two weeks away was a lot for the young girl. What happened next may bring a tear to your eye.

Smith snapped the above photo at 2 a.m. after her husband had “snuck home from work to calm her down because she missed him.” The touching photo shows the young girl laying on her soon-to-be adoptive father’s chest, as both dose peacefully.

Smith said that they don’t use the term “step father.” When the young girl needs him, “he’s there.”

“They aren’t related by blood, but they are daddy and daughter,” said Smith. “The love of a father runs deep.”

Indeed it does.